By:Jerry Burke
But at the very least, the guy behind the counter gives you a ticket, proof that you, as ultimately futile as it maybe, have wagered a few bucks on a longshot. Even magazine clearinghouses at least give you a year of "Time," "Newsweek" or "Ebony" for sending in a response to the age-old sucker line, "You may already be a millionaire" (and you thought you had a prayer if you sent in the "No" envelope).
But in today's fast-paced Internet world, there are loads of less-than-wonderful bearers of "great economic news" looking to take you for a ride. No, not CNBC (although I'd still be on guard with those guys). I'm talking about Internet lottery scammers and any "former official" of Nigeria.
If you own an e-mail account, you've seen these guys. They tell you that you have either won some international lottery (with great names like Gogo International or the Lottery Winners International, brought to you courtesy of "Bill Gates") or that some recently deceased dissident has left behind millions of dollars about to be reclaimed by the government. And of all the people in all the world, you have been chosen to act as an intermediary in freeing those funds from their grubby hands.
We'd all like to think that fortune may one day smile upon us out of the blue -- and that's why these scams work. They'll most likely ask you for money to cover "administrative costs" so they can get you your money quickly. But if they already have all this free cash, why can't they just deduct that from your "winnings"? And why are they calling you "Sir/Madam" instead of your real name? And why are you winning a lottery you never bought a ticket for?
And why is "psychic" John Edwards so vague in describing your dead relatives?
Because they're all lying. There are some truly rotten human beings in this world who will stop at nothing to get your money. The Internet gives them a powerful tool in taking you for a ride. The famous "Nigerian scam" is even more inane then the lotteries, because they ask you for your bank account numbers. Look, if you're going to do that, you might as well send the information to me, care of this paper, because at worst I'll force you to buy me lunch. And maybe Mets tickets. Field box, first-base line.
But perhaps most important, if you've responded to one of these scams, these jerks are relying on your being too embarrassed to do anything about it. Don't let them scam you twice. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission handles complaints, and can help you at www.sec.gov.
